Opinion: Call of Duty needs to take a break

The competitive first person shooter is a favorite type of game amongst most people that play games. Almost 9 years ago, Activision teamed up with Infinity Ward to create a groundbreaking FPS hit that took the world of gaming by storm. With its smooth gameplay accompanied by great shooting mechanics and a captivating campaign, Call of Duty rose to the top as one of the most played FPS shooters.

What really made this game something special was the multiplayer. The multiplayer pitted to teams against each other, each fighting for different nations. The multiplayer was pretty basic until the release of  Call of Duty: United Offensive, an expansion pack that expanded mainly on the multiplayer feature of the game. The expansion offered a ranking system, along with new game modes such as domination, base assault and the most traditional game mode, capture the flag.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Since then, multiple CoD games have been released, each improving upon the other until the release of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. The game was released in 2007 and it was a big competitor of Microsoft's FPS Halo 3. Modern Warfare went on to sell over 1.5 million copies in its first month of release and won numerous awards from game critics. The game became a huge success for Activision and Infinity Ward, but it also became the beginning of a formula that went on to become overused.

After MW released, Activision teamed up with the other CoD developer Treyarch to release Call of Duty: World at War. The game ended up being the last WWII installment of the game, and it looked and played exactly like Modern Warfare.The only thing that made this title worth buying was the Nazi Zombies game mode that could be unlocked after completing the campaign. The next year Infinity Ward released Call of Duty: Modern Wafare 2, which was pretty much a $60 DLC package. The game offered new weapons, maps, game modes and a campaign, but it still looked and played exactly like its predecessor. Then the next year Treyarch released Call of Duty: Black Ops, and the next year Infinity Ward released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 both of which had new features, but still looked and played just like the games that came before them.

Modern Warfare 3

One could make the argument that if it isn't broke, don't fix it, but I've become bored with the series. After MW 2, I refused to purchase any more of these games because they just end up technically being the same every year. Sure they offer cool new campaigns and new multiplayer maps amongst other features, but the overall feel of the game never changes. I used to be a huge fan of this series, but now I can't play more than a couple rounds of multiplayer before getting bored. This series has become similar to a sports games series. Sure they offer roster changes and some cool features in every installment, but for the most part, core gameplay and presentation doesn't change.

It really doesn't matter though because people keep buying the games and making these people millions when they are hardly doing any work. It's obvious that the people in charge at Activision, Treyarch and Infinity Ward are more businessmen than gamers because if they were gamers, they wouldn't release the same recycled bullshit every year. As long as they are still making their money, they don't care how groundbreaking they can make a game. If Valve, Rockstar or Bethesda were making CoD games, they wouldn't just recycle the same game over and over again because they are gamers that make games for gamers.

Modern Warfare

What I suggest is that Activision and Infinity Ward should take complete control of the series and take some time to make a new and refreshing installment to the series. I know Treyarch is planning on releasing Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 this year but after that, there should be a CoD hiatus where only Activision and Infinity Ward come together and make something more groundbreaking. A good example of this is the Halo series because Bungie would take 3 years in between releases to create a game that looks, plays and feels different that the one before it.




Hopefully in soon time, people will actually come to their senses and stop throwing their money into a game that is essentially the same as the one they bought the year before. Hopefully more people will take a stand and motivate these developers to push themselves to actually make a great game that I know they have the potential to make. Though the games are still great, they are just stale like a moldy old loaf of bread. I really hope that in the future, CoD games can break from this cycle they have succumb to and provide me with a new and refreshing experience that will make me feel like my money was well spent.